Whether you’re shooting in an unfamiliar location or conflict area, photographers traveling abroad need to smart, vigilant, and prepared for dangerous situations. Many photographers might not receive formal training before going abroad, so it’s more important than ever to do your own research and determine what you need to stay safe. And after visiting more than 100 countries between them, photojournalists Ami Vitale and Elizabeth Dalziel have learned some vital lessons on how to protect themselves in a number of different precarious situations.

In this live webinar on Tuesday, September 10th at 4pm ET, Ami and Elizabeth will draw on their many years of experience to share their recommendations for those who find themselves working in difficult environments. They’ll discuss:

The importance of finding a trustworthy guide

The actual cost of staying safe and buying protection

The value of networking with other photographers

Lessons learned from personal experience in mobs, unstable areas, and war zones

Join us on Tuesday, September 10th at 4pm ET for this very special webinar with Ami Vitale and Elizabeth Dalziel!

From September 16-21 (9:00am - 4:00pm Pacific Time), creativeLIVE is hosting free live workshops to celebrate Photo Week. The week will include workshops by over 50 well-known commercial, outdoor, and wedding photographers.

Caveat Emptor: BigValueInc's positive feedback rating is at 98.2%. We received information that some buyers received the wrong product when purchasing from this merchant. Be sure to keep all supporting documents if taking advantage of this offer.

In a time when lens prices seem to go up, up and away, it’s very nice to see some prices drop. On Tuesday, we reported on five lenses that have dropped significantly in price – the Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS, the 28mm f/2.8 IS, the 35mm f/2 IS, and two popular EF-S lenses, the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and ultra wide angle 10-22mm USM lens. We don’t know if these price drops will be permanent, so take advantage of the reduced prices while you can.

This week, both Canon and Zeiss announced new cinema lenses. On Wednesday, Canon announced the CN-E35mm T1.5 L F lens. The 35mm lens is Canon’s sixth prime lens in its cinema series, and should hit the shelves in December for a little north of $5,000.00. On Thursday, Zeiss announced its own cinema lens, the CZ.2 15-30mm T2.9. This cinema zoom is scheduled to be available in April 2014 for a price “under” €20,000.

Also on Thursday, Nikon announced two new COOLPIX cameras – the P7800 and S02 – as well as the LD-1000 LED movie light. For more information on these new products, check out Thursday’s news post.

And for probably the biggest news of the week (for most of our audience, at least), Adobe announced a Photoshop Photography Program for Creative Cloud. The new program offers Photoshop CC and Adobe Lightroom 5 for an affordable $9.99 per month, but there’s a catch. In order to qualify for the program, you must already own Adobe Photoshop CS3 or later. We’re quite saddened by that stipulation as it will preclude many anxious customers from taking advantage of this seemingly fair offer. The Photoshop Photography Membership Program will start September 17th.

In site news and reviews...

On Wednesday, Bryan published the ISO noise comparisons for the Canon EOS 70D. Judging by the results, it looks like Canon was able to increase resolution – from 18 to 20 megapixels – without increasing ISO noise. It looks like Canon did a good job designing their Dual-Pixel sensors.

And, for our deal of the week…

On Thursday, we posted an eBay deal from RytherCamera where you could get a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens for $650.00 with free shipping. Unfortunately, the price rose to $679.99 shortly after posting. However, that’s still a very good deal compared to the normal, retail price of $1,149.00.

This has been the The-Digital-Picture.com’s Weekend Recap. Thanks for listening, and as always, happy shooting!"

New ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphic and ZEISS Cine Zoom lens to be unveiled at IBC show in Amsterdam

OBERKOCHEN/Germany, 06.09.2013. – The wide-angle lens Compact Zoom CZ.2 15-30/T2.9 is the newest member of the ZEISS zoom family. From September 13-17, ZEISS will show a mock-up of this lens for the first time at its booth F58 in hall 11 during the IBC in Amsterdam, Europe’s most important trade fair for film, television and radio production and delivery. ZEISS and its partner ARRI will also present the world debut of the ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphic MA 100/T1.9. This will expand the number of focal lengths for the ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphic lenses available on the market to four.

“With the Compact Zoom CZ.2 15-30/T2.9 we are closing a gap in the wide-angle range in our family of cine zooms,” says Michael Schiehlen, Director of Sales of ZEISS Camera Lenses. “This offers sophisticated clients the greatest possible flexibility so that there are no limits to their creativity — even in cramped shooting situations.” The new zoom complements the existing Compact Zoom CZ.2 70-200/T2.9 and CZ.2 28-80/T2.9 lenses with a wide-angle zoom in the focal-length range of 15-30 mm.

The new cine zoom lens has all the features of the ZEISS Compact Zoom family. This includes a compact, lightweight design (2.5 kg/5.7 lbs on a length of 252 mm/9.92”), the interchangeable mount system (PL, EF, F, MFT and E mount) and full-frame coverage (36x24 mm), which creates a sweet-spot effect when used on Super-35 camera sensors. Additional features are the color matching and an ergonomic surface for handheld operation as well as for use with a follow-focus system. In addition, the lenses correspond to 4K production standards (4096 x 2160). The Compact Zoom CZ.2 lenses offer better protection against typical environmental influences on the set such as splashing water and dust.

“Thanks to its many characteristics, the Compact Zoom CZ.2 lenses are also suitable for professional big-screen productions together with the ARRI/ZEISS Master Prime and ARRI/ZEISS Ultra Prime lenses, and therefore build an ideal set of cine zooms for the rental market,” adds Schiehlen.

Sales of the Compact Zoom CZ.2 15-30/T2.9 are expected to begin at the NAB in April 2014. It is not yet possible to place orders. The recommended price will be under €20,000 (excluding VAT).

“What makes the Master Anamorphic family which we have developed with ARRI so special is that it renders particularly distortion-free widescreens for big-screen productions,” says Anna Rausch, product manager from ZEISS Camera Lenses about the world premiere. “Our anamorphic lenses are the first on the market in which the cylindrical lens elements are positioned at strategically important points in the lens. These lens elements are responsible for creating an anamorphic widescreen.” The ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphic MA 100/T1.9 is the fourth member of the family of lenses, which will eventually consist of seven focal lengths. Already available are the MA 35/T1.9, MA 50/T1.9 and MA 75/T1.9. Through their combination of compact design and a high speed of T1.9, the lenses can be used quickly and easily on many different types of sets. ZEISS and ARRI first launched the Master Anamorphic family of lenses in 2012 for ARRI movie cameras. They were developed and assembled by ZEISS. Marketing is done exclusively by ARRI.

In addition to these premieres, ZEISS will also present its entire comprehensive portfolio of lenses for big-screen productions and HD video during the IBC: from the ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphic, ARRI/ZEISS Master Prime and ARRI/ZEISS Ultra Prime; to the ZEISS Compact Prime CP.2 and ZEISS Compact Zoom CZ.2; and finally the ZEISS SLR lenses. Visitors to ZEISS’s booth can try out the lenses on the latest cameras, and ZEISS experts will be available to answer questions.